Comments Thread For: Brian Viloria-Tyson Marquez: Unifying First and Last

by Cliff Rold - First and foremost, it looks like one hell of a fight.

2000 U.S. Olympian Brian Viloria (31-3, 18 KO), resurgent as a titlist in his second weight class after title reigns at 108 lbs., versus Hernan “Tyson” Marquez (34-2, 25 KO), victorious against Luis Concepcion in one of 2011’s most savage bouts, has all the makings. Both men can box. Both men can punch. They’ve both shown vulnerability.

If anything left on the 2012 boxing docket is going to steal likely Fight of the Year honors from Brandon Rios-Mike Alvarado, this is the best bet.

Beyond the fight in the ring, an element of history will be at hand. Viloria, the World Boxing Organization (WBO) titlist at Flyweight, and Marquez, the World Boxing Association (WBA) titlist at Flyweight, will both have their titles on the line.

It has become a little bit of mythology to say boxing’s titles were once always unified, that champions once came only one to a class. The history of the sport is full of instances where championship claims met counter claims and unification was deemed necessary (and, more importantly, promotable).

The Middleweight title was split for a big chunk of the 1930s. Various U.S. state commissions, most notably the New York State Athletic Commission, or Ring Magazine, or the British Boxing Board of Control, or all of the above, were occasionally at odds with the National Boxing Association (now the WBA). [Click Here To Read More]

Clearly, Segura has more power than Marquez but Marquez throws more compact punches to Segura's wide arch shots so it's not the power, it's the placement. If the same Viloria that showed up for Segura and Solis shows up, the obvious choice is Viloria. But that Viloria shows up 2 out of every 3 fights. The Tamara and Soza version is unpredictable. He reversed the Romero loss so either he stays on the roll or falls back.